


Signs of Affection

by cloudy_side_down



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Love Letters, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, and a road trip, but they're not very intense enemies lol, eda runs a diner, includes original artwork!, luz and amity are 16, of course there's a group project, pranks involving anagrams, rated T for mild swearing, set in the PNW, title is a low-quality pun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:28:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28708923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudy_side_down/pseuds/cloudy_side_down
Summary: "But in Luz Noceda’s opinion, rearrangeable letters were meant to be rearranged."Luz decides to spice up her local coffee shop with a little harmless mischief. Amity works there, and she’s hell-bent on catching whoever has been messing with the sign out front. They’re perfectly matched adversaries, and an epic battle of anagrams ensues.Of course, many many words get mixed up and scrambled around. But somewhere along the way, Luz and Amity’s feelings do too. The frustration turns into fondness, the angry notes turn into friendly banter, and the two enemies turn into, well… they’re still figuring that part out.(There's artwork for every chapter! Updates once a week-ish on Sundays)
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda
Comments: 75
Kudos: 252





	1. A Brilliant Scheme & A Lofty Dream

**Author's Note:**

> hello and thank you for checking out my story—this is actually my first ever fanfiction! pretty nervous about putting my writing on the internet, but I could NOT get this AU idea out of my head so yes here we are.  
> luz, amity, and co. are HS juniors in this (16-17), and there are a few other changes from canon that'll come up later. this will probably be 15 total chapters, give or take. expect a slow burn + all kinds of shenanigans along the way!  
>   
> also, I always love fics with a soundtrack, so there’s a song for each chapter to match the vibe. of course you don’t have to listen, but if you want to you could play them while you read, before, after, whatever you're feelin...  
> song for chapter 1: Such Great Heights by The Postal Service

_October 1st_

The night was dead quiet. Dead quiet, except for the light smatterings of rain upon pavement. 

This sound also happened to be an excellent cover for the light pattering of footsteps—a convenient fact for the hooded figure making its way down a sleepy sidestreet of Owl Ridge, Washington.

It was unlikely that any nearby resident of the mid-size town was awake at this hour. Even if they were, they’d be hard-pressed to detect the rhythm of the figure’s rapid gait, nor would they notice when it suddenly ceased as said figure reached the front entrance of Coven Coffee Company. 

Streetlights were few and far between in Owl Ridge, even on Main Street. Only from a few feet away could an observer make out the mischievous grin upon the figure’s face. 

_A perfect time for petty crime_ , she thought, pushing her hood back to reveal a head of short, dark, and currently very messy hair.

 _Ooh, that would be such a cool title for a mystery novel! Hold on._

She slid a battered old phone from her pocket and added yet another entry to her Notes doc entitled “badass book ideas,” which at this point was actually approaching the length of a novel itself. 

Once that was done, the 16-year-old took a deep breath, held a non-existent walkie talkie to her lips, and whispered, “Operation Night Owl is a go!” 

After a few seconds of digging through her “utility belt,” which was definitely not just a repurposed _Good Witch Azura_ ™ fanny pack in pastel pink (and _certainly_ not the special-edition version featuring “Warrior of Peace” embroidered with sparkly thread), the girl pulled out a small, homemade lock pick kit and tucked it in her hoodie for easy access. 

Then, she took a bold step forward—not towards the door of the coffee shop, but towards the large sign on top of a pole out front.

The pole was around ten feet tall. The sign had a dark blue border and crisp white display, with rearrangeable letters to advertise seasonal specials. 

Currently, it read: “STOP BY FOR A WARM FALL DRINK! PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE AND APPLE CIDER.” Concise, informative, welcoming—definitely a solid message to post outside a cozy café. 

But in Luz Noceda’s opinion, rearrangeable letters were meant to be rearranged.

So with a gleam of moonlight in her eyes, she rolled up her sleeves and got to work.

—

Mornings in Owl Ridge were quiet as well, but not in the same way as the nights. They were more like the gentle yawn or stretch one might do before getting out of bed, noiseless yet humming with the promise of life. 

At least, that’s what Amity Blight liked to think. 

She found that optimism made it a little easier to drag herself out of bed at 5 o’clock each morning for the opening shift at Coven Coffee.

Plus, if the whole positive mindset deal didn’t do the trick, she’d remind herself that there was a good reason to endure the misery. Namely, that taking on all these extra shifts meant she could earn the respect of her higher-ups and get one step closer to her ultimate goal. 

Someday, Amity was going to join the ranks of Coven Coffee Company’s executives, and maybe even become CEO of the whole franchise.

It had been her dream since before she could remember, and if getting up at 5 a.m. on weekdays would help that dream come true? Then by 5:01, you bet your ass Amity would be awake.

More than just awake! In fact, put her in a ballgown and call her Snow Blight, because she’d be as goddamn perky as a Disney princess serenading a thousand cutesy forest creatures.

Teeth brushed and face washed, Amity took a beat to collect herself as she surveyed her reflection in the bathroom mirror.

 _Today is going to be a good day_ , she decided. It was the start of a new school week at Hexside High and only her third time opening the café. 

_Today had better be a good day._

Both grades and job experience were essential to Amity’s ambitions. Balancing school and work—not to mention sports, extracurriculars, college prep, and family duties—was a challenge, of course, but she was nothing if not prepared. 

The future CEO grabbed her backpack and lunch, pre-packed the night before, and made her way to the front door. Before heading out, she double-knotted her shoelaces, tightening them with a firm tug and watching the neat bows fall perfectly into place. 

Amity allowed herself a brief smile. After all, the first step to an excellent day was having an excellent morning.

—

By the time Amity pulled into the coffee shop’s adjoining parking lot (a few minutes early, she might add), the sun had started peeking over the horizon, bathing everything around her in a soft golden glow.

She tugged on a black parka before stepping out of her car—it was only the start of October, but she could already see her breath in the cold, and a layer of frost had begun to coat the windows of Coven Coffee. 

Luckily, Amity had access to basically infinite hot drinks. Well, she would once she got inside. With coffee as motivation, her journey from parking lot to front door took under five seconds, no doubt a record time (although, unfortunately, nobody kept records of such things).

Amity pulled the store key from its designated jacket pocket and was starting to turn it in the lock when—

_Wait a minute…_

Eyes narrowed, the girl took a few measured paces backward until she could properly read the message on the tall café sign. She blinked a few times to make sure her vision was functioning, because the sight in front of her made no sense at all. 

Amity knew precisely what that sign was supposed to say because she herself had painstakingly arranged each letter. 

She knew that she’d put _hours_ of effort into crafting a message that had all the traits of an ideal advertisement: 

Concise. 

Informative. 

Welcoming.

She knew that said message was about 

Tasty.

Seasonal. 

Beverages. 

Nothing more, nothing less.

And Amity was beyond sure, absolutely positive, that what she had written was not “STOP! WINK AT BARISTA FOR MALL FENCE DRAPERY AND PLUMP PICKLE DIP.”

Swearing was both unprofessional and unbecoming of a proper young lady, but the only thought Amity’s brain could muster was simply, “ _What the FUCK.”_

After some time, she slowly unclenched her fists and let out a long exhale, watching it swirl into nothingness amid the freezing air.

Once Amity felt her face slip back into its usual dispassionate mask, she unlocked her phone and called her boss, Lilith, to report the vandalism.

As for how somebody had gotten up that high without an industrial-size ladder, not to mention picking the lock on the sign’s glass cover, Amity had no clue. 

What she did know: the café’s ladder was currently in storage, the key to the cover was God-knows-where, and it was going to take a very long time to fix that sign.

_So much for a good day._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> art for this chapter is by my talented/brilliant beta reader, Magpie. and I’m pretty much figuring out how all of this fanfic stuff works as I go, so I’d love to hear what you think of the story! feedback or questions or “hey dweeb you made a horrible typo” or whatever else :) 
> 
> song explanation: this chapter focuses on “heights,” in the literal sense of luz getting up to the tall signpost (using some mysterious method... that you'll find out soon....) and also the heights that amity aspires to reach in her future. plus the opening beat sounds kinda like light rain/quick footsteps so yeah!


	2. An Introduction That’s Less Than Ideal & A Lackluster Anagram Reveal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it occurred to me that not everyone is super familiar with the Pacific Northwest U.S. vibe, so if you're confused on the setting, imagine like: coffee shops everywhere, cloudy weather, many pine trees, outdoorsy hiking culture, tons of people wearing fleeces and puffy coats and boots, generally down-to-earth atmosphere. 
> 
> if you've seen The Half of It on Netflix (and if you haven't, I highly highly recommend!), the town in that is basically how I imagine Owl Ridge.
> 
> and I didn’t mention this last chapter cuz the author’s notes were already super long, but since this story is set in Washington State, all of the “soundtrack” songs are by Washington artists--it'll hop around genres too so hopefully you enjoy at least a few!
> 
> song for chapter 2: Lost In My Mind by The Head and the Heart

_October 2nd_

Luz chomped on a piece of toast, trying to avoid any contact with King’s puppy-eyed stare. The German Shepherd had a ravenous appetite and could be extremely convincing when he wanted to be.

Well, calling him a German Shepherd was generous, but Luz felt like “mutt” sounded too mean. And, she figured, he definitely had _some_ German Shepherd in the mix to account for his pointy ears, although the similarities ended there.

King’s fur was entirely black except for his head, which was mostly cream-colored, and he was small enough to curl up on Luz’s pillow for his daily naps.

“King, you are my most favorite dog in this entire universe and beyond, but I can’t give you my toast. I need extra energy for the start of the week—anything can happen on a Monday, you know!” she exclaimed around a mouthful of bread. 

“Maybe I’ll finally meet the hot yet vulnerable upperclassman of my dreams. Or wait, I’m a junior now! Maybe I AM the hot yet vulnerable upperclassman! What do you think?” 

King apparently had no opinion on the subject; his eyes were glued to the toast that Luz had been waving around in various gestures as she spoke. 

Before Luz could continue this scintillating one-sided dialogue, she was interrupted by a groggy “Morning, kid.”

“Eda! You’re up early!”

Although, the woman clearly didn’t want to be. Eda’s mane of grey hair was crumpled on one side and sticking out in all directions on the other, while the coffee in her “30 & Flirty” mug almost spilled out the edges each time she took a step toward the dining table. 

“Yeah, yeah, some routine inspection on the diner,” she grumbled. “If you ask me, we don’t even need health codes. Eat at your own risk! Adds some spice to the dining experience.”

Years ago, Eda had dropped out of her prestigious college to renovate a condemned Pancake House near the center of town.

Everyone she knew considered this decision an idiotic mistake, but between Eda’s strange yet intriguing owl-themed branding, spunky persona, and so-called “criminally delicious hashbrowns,” the diner quickly became a fixture of Owl Ridge. In a nod to both the building’s origins and the town’s name, she had dubbed it “The Owl House.”

“I’m personally in favor of food safety, but to each their own!” Luz chirped, standing up to clear her dishes. 

Eda bit back a smile as she took a swig of coffee. She felt more awake already just being in the vicinity of the ball of enthusiasm otherwise known as Luz. She really did love this kid.

—

7:58 AM. Luz sat at her desk, waiting for 1st Period to start.

Except Luz never really just ‘sat.’ She was currently engaged in the risky business of tipping her desk chair onto its back legs; her feet, anchored to the desk, were the only thing preventing her from toppling backwards. 

Her mind was just as restless, still giddy from the adrenaline of last night’s anagram mischief. Luz had desperately wanted to spill every detail to her best friends as soon as they picked her up for school, but made herself hold off. 

It would be worth the wait to see the looks on Gus and Willow’s faces once they laid eyes on her little “edits” to Coven Coffee’s sign.

Earlier that morning, with as much of a mysterious aura as she could muster, Luz had told them to meet her after school to see a...

~ special surprise ~...

The starting bell let out its daily shriek of a tune, and Luz quickly righted her seating position, turning her attentive gaze to the front of the classroom.

1st Period was Studio Art, and Studio Art was by far Luz’s favorite class this year. The teacher was cool, her seat partner actually enjoyed her jokes, and of course, she loved to draw. 

Love wasn’t even a strong enough word to describe such a fundamental part of her. Luz was constantly doodling on any blank surface she could get her hands on (including her hands themselves). 

Sometimes she didn’t even realize she was doing it, like right now.

Whoops.

There was now a strange owl with an unsettlingly long neck inked on Luz’s notebook cover, and she had absolutely no idea what her teacher had been saying for the past five minutes. 

“...so to complete the project I just explained, you’ll be paired up with new seat partners for the next few months. I’ll give you a few minutes now to get acquainted with your partner. Please gather your belongings and check this chart to see where you should move,” concluded Mr. Bump as he placed a paper under the projector.

Luz scrambled to shove all her stuff into her backpack while she scanned the seating chart for her name.

Ah, there in the corner! She exchanged light-hearted goodbyes with her current desk buddy, then headed over to her new spot. 

It was at the back of the classroom, right near a large window, which was a plus. But she didn’t know the green-haired girl sitting in the neighboring chair, which was a minus... that Luz decided she was going to turn into a plus!

A new friend was never a bad thing, she mused on the way over, and she’d never met anyone with green hair before, so—

Wait, was that Amity Blight? As in, _the_ Amity Blight, captain of the Varsity soccer team, shoo-in for Valedictorian, and one of the most popular girls at Hexside? Since when was she in Luz’s art class?

_Huh! But I thought Amity had brown hair?_

No matter. Luz was just excited to properly meet her.

Plus, having the top student as her assignment partner was a blessing from the high school gods—this was going to be the best project ever! Well, as soon as she figured out what the project was... 

—

On rough days, the only thing Amity wanted was some peace and quiet.

And even though it was still early, she had spent the last 2+ hours at work, single handedly dealing with the morning rush of commuters, who tended to get very upset when made to wait more than a couple minutes for their drink. Her co-worker, who normally made busy mornings bearable, was occupied with fixing the massacred sign message.

And Jesus Christ, the number of people who winked at her and mentioned “plump pickle dip” was enough to form a small army. Amity wished they would’ve, so she could order them to track down that despicable vandal.

Plus, she was anxious about starting this art class midway through the year.

Amity captained the Hexside soccer team, but she was also on a club team outside of school, which played in a championship tournament all through September. 

Tournament season included mandatory morning practices that ran until 8:30 every morning. School started at 8:00, so by the time Amity got changed and drove to school, the first class would already be over. 

To accommodate this, her mother had pulled some strings to excuse her from 1st Period until the tournament ended.

So long story short, it was a month into the school year Amity had never actually attended her art class before.

Amity didn’t even consider herself a good artist, but AP Studio Art was the only AP that fit with her schedule (Blights took advanced classes, and only advanced classes).

And Mr. Bump was known to be a tough grader, unfortunately for Amity. To get a good mark, she’d have to put in extra work to make up for her lack of natural skill (Blights got A’s, and only A’s).

-

Needless to say, this was already shaping up to be a rough day.

And the girl currently walking toward her desk, who must’ve had a dozen keychains on her backpack, all clinking around in a cacophony with each step, looked like the exact opposite of peace and quiet.

Even her clothes were loud: mismatched ankle socks, a pair of vibrant friendship bracelets on her wrist, and a patterned Patagonia fleece that genuinely hurt Amity’s eyes with its clashing firetruck red and neon blue (she didn’t even know such a color _existed_ , but there it was, right in front of her).

Some dark wash jeans cuffed at the ankle were the outfit’s only saving grace, but even those seemed to be stained with swatches of colored marker.

Amity jumped when a sudden hand was stuck in her face. 

_Much too loud and much too close_ , she thought. 

Granted, Amity had a very large personal space bubble, but it was an intrusion nonetheless.

“I’m Luz! Nice to meet you!” the intruder smiled.

“Amity. Charmed,” she deadpanned, reluctantly shaking the hand in front of her. This Luz girl had a very intense grip, but the warmth of her hand was almost pleasant.

“I’ve never seen anybody with green hair before! It’s really cool—why’d you pick green?” 

Luz’s expression seemed genuinely interested, unlike the mocking stares from Boscha and the others when they first saw her new hair.

Regardless, the last thing Amity wanted to do right now was think about her awful dye job.

“Don’t ask,” she snapped more harshly than intended. “Please,” she tried to soften her tone, but the word just came out sounding stiff.

“Oh, um, okay. I’m sorry.” Luz seemed to shrink a bit as she set her bag down and pulled out the chair next to Amity’s.

Amity turned away to look out the window at the clear sky, taking a few breaths to re-center herself. 

The hair was a bit of a sensitive subject, obviously. It had all started when her mother suggested that Amity might look nice with blonde hair to match her own. 

Amity was perfectly fine with her natural dark auburn, but she knew that when Odalia Blight made a suggestion, it was really more of an order. And it was not in one’s best interest to disregard Odalia Blight’s orders, especially when one lived under her roof. 

So off to the salon they’d gone—Odalia of course, left to run errands as soon as Amity was checked in (the woman had priorities, and quality time with her children was not one of them). 

Bleaching Amity’s hair went smoothly enough, but when trying to replicate Odalia’s movie star blonde, the hairdresser somehow mixed in a splash of blue dye by accident. 

Needless to say, when Odalia returned to see her daughter’s hair “the horrendous color of last season’s Chanel purse,” she went on a rampage to various salon staff.

Unfortunately, even a full refund did nothing to change the fact that Amity’s hair was now an aggressive seafoam green. 

Worse still, the stylists agreed that the strands of her hair were so thin that another bleaching would cause major damage, and any darker color they tried to dye it would have a strange green undertone. 

So, for the time being, seafoam it was.

-

Amity was shook from her reverie by Mr. Bump’s booming voice quieting the classroom chatter.

“Now that you’ve gotten settled, take the next ten minutes to discuss your plans for the project. Remember, you’ll make each piece independently, but each pair _must_ have a cohesive theme. Ten minutes starts now.”

Amity still felt like she was about to snap, but she was well-versed in the art of stuffing down inconvenient emotion, and right now she just needed a plan to get this assignment done.

“Do you have any ideas for a topic? I think the easiest thing to do would be…” Amity trailed off when she noticed the increasingly panicked expression on Luz’s face.

“Is everything alright?” she prompted.

“I’m fine! Totally fine! Umm, except… I kind of missed the whole explanation about what this project is, exactly?”

“What do you mean? You’ve been here the entire class,” Amity replied, her brow furrowed. 

Luz looked down intently at the bracelet she was currently fidgeting with.

“No, no—like, I’ve been here, but I sorta zoned out by accident while Mr. Bump was talking.” Luz’s expression looked as if she was bracing for an attack.

“...Oh.”

The word hung in the air for a few seconds. 

_Well. This is going to be one of those group projects where I end up doing all the work, isn’t it? Let’s just get it over with and do something simple._

Amity tried to keep the frustration off her face as she began reciting Mr. Bump’s instructions.

“We’re making five pieces each. They can be any medium, but they all have to be related in some way,” she explained. 

“So, we have to pick some sort of inspiration for the pieces, then do weekly check-ins to talk about our progress and give feedback. But obviously we work on our pieces individually—no helping each other draw. By the end of the quarter, we need to turn in all ten themed pieces, plus a final reflection paper.”

“Alright, sounds good.” Luz visibly relaxed, offering her a sheepish smile.

“And we’ll have other things to work on for the next couple weeks, so Mr. Bump said we don’t need to start right away. I was thinking we could each come up with some ideas for a theme, and then meet up to decide on one the week after next.”

“Will do! Oh, have you been to The Owl House?”

Amity had not. Her parents—and friends, for that matter—never stooped to such lowbrow cuisine.

But she had certainly heard of it, just like everyone in town probably had; Eda Clawthorne and her eccentric diner were famous around Owl Ridge (or infamous, depending who you asked). 

Generally speaking, Amity valued honesty, but right now she was tired, and tired of talking to people. It seemed best to humor Luz and speed along this interaction.

“Yes, why?” she lied.

“Maybe we could meet there! I help out with cooking sometimes, so I can totally talk Eda into giving us free snacks for our planning sesh.”

“Sure.”

With that, Amity pulled out her Physics textbook and sunk into a reading on thermodynamics, which was honestly the most relaxing part of her day so far.

She tried not to stress herself out about the art project, but it made up a large portion of her semester grade, and she didn’t exactly have much faith in Luz’s academic competence after that whole conversation. 

_Everything will be fine,_ Amity told herself.

_I’ll figure it out. And this partner situation will probably be a trainwreck, but…_

But what? What was the silver lining here? She was stumped, frankly.

_...but I’ve heard The Owl House has good milkshakes?_

Amity really needed to work on her optimism.

—

After school, Luz rushed down to the lockers, where a stampede of students had already swarmed. In a momentary gap in the crowd, she thought she spotted one of Willow’s many floral print sweaters and Gus’s black jean jacket. 

Moving closer, she could hear two voices engaged in a half-joking debate about the best way to water cacti. Luz laughed to herself. _Yep, definitely my friends._

Unsurprisingly, Gus appeared to be losing. It was dangerous to challenge Willow in the arena of botany—she worked at the plant nursery, plus she collected all kinds of rare plants in her room and the backyard greenhouse her dads had built with her.

“Luz!” Gus’s face lit up when he caught sight of her from above the crowd. He’d been shorter than Luz when they first met two years ago, but now he was taller than most of the guys at school.

Willow turned around with a smile and a raised eyebrow. “So, what’s this ‘surprise’ you kept telling us about?”

“I can’t just tell you! I’ll have to show you.” Luz grinned a little maniacally. “Come along! Prepare to be amazed!”

She marched off towards the door, knowing that her friends were probably exchanging skeptical glances behind her.

-

The walk to Coven Coffee Co. took around five minutes, during which time Luz did her best to create maximum suspense levels, vibrating with energy as she made cryptic comments about “rearranging the status quo,” and so on. 

She knew the payoff would be magnificent.

_Ah, the mall fence drapery, the pickle dip… Pure genius. I really do have a gift. They’re gonna laugh SO hard._

When they were a block away from the café, Luz began weaving her tale.

“So, Coven Coffee has some seasonal drinks right now. A pumpkin spice latte and hot apple cider. And they put up an announcement on their big sign in front of the store, and I was walking by one day and suddenly had the best idea ever…”

Here it was! The sign was almost in view!

Luz turned around to face Gus and Willow as they walked so she could see the moment they caught sight of her anagram masterpiece.

“I decided to make a few, shall we say, _changes_ ,” Luz continued, wiggling her eyebrows for effect. 

Her friends stopped walking; they must be reading it now. Luz practically glowed with anticipation.

They seemed to be speechless for a moment. And then:

Willow adjusted her glasses, squinting. “Um, so what changes did you make exactly? Am I missing something?”

Luz spun around instantly. Her eyes widened as she read the sign. 

“STOP BY FOR A WARM FALL DRINK! PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE AND APPLE CIDER.”

“No way!! How’d they fix it so fast?!” 

The café was always crazy busy on Mondays, so Luz figured they wouldn’t have time to change it for at least 12 hours or so.

The trio stood in silence, staring at the sign while Luz went through all five stages of grief. Upon reaching the acceptance phase, she nodded in acknowledgement of her defeat. 

At last, Willow cleared her throat. “Sorry, Luz. I bet it was really funny.”

Luz shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. I dragged you guys over here for nothing, and I know you’re both busy this week.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Willow put a comforting hand on Luz’s shoulder. “There’s always enough time for friends, even if it doesn’t go as planned. Plus, the walk was only a few minutes.”

“And hey, since we’re here anyways, should we get some of those seasonal drinks? I bet that’ll cheer you up,” Gus suggested.

“Aw, you guys are the best. I’ll pay for all three of us!” Luz declared, pulling the coffee shop door open with a flourish and holding it for her friends. Chivalry was alive and well in Luz Noceda.

Willow began to object: “You don’t have to do th-”

Gus put a silencing finger to her lips. “SHHHHH. Let her buy us tea and hot cocoa,” he whispered loudly, then headed through the open door.

Willow rolled her eyes, but followed. She could never say no to a nice mug of herbal tea.

Luz entered last. She endlessly appreciated Gus and Willow, but her mind was stuck on the sign.

As they waited in line to order, she found herself still disappointed, yet oddly inspired to try again. A barely perceptible smirk found its way onto her face. 

_These café people are worthy adversaries, to be sure. They’ve won this battle, but they shall NOT win the war_ — _I’m going to re-scramble that sign until Willow and Gus get to see it!_

_The Good Witch Luzura will triumph, no matter the obstacle!_

By the time she took the first sip of her coffee, Luz was already planning her next anagram. It was _so_ on.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and with that, the romance begins! a pretty rough start (that slow burn tag is no joke) but we’ll get there... eventually….. feedback is welcome! and many thanks to the incredible/amazing Magpie for editing!
> 
> art for this chapter is by me, although the design is edited on because YES this is an actual specific fleece by Patagonia. Luz definitely either got it from the Owl Ridge thrift shop for like $3 or she found it buried in Eda's closet, but either way it's a fashion statement for sure.
> 
> song explanation: this one reflects how Luz and Amity both spend a lot of time with their own thoughts, and how (at first) they really can't understand what's going on in each other's heads. plus this is just one of my favorite bands ever :)


	3. Luz Tries to Make Things Better & Amity Ruins a Brand New Sweater

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> get ready for some ~drama~ ahead ;)
> 
> song for chapter 3: Too Young to Kill by Brite Futures

_October 16th_

Luz brushed off the layer of eraser dust that had accumulated on her table and tried to find a more comfortable position in the diner booth. To speed up the process of her midnight escapades to Coven Coffee, she had started puzzling out her anagrams ahead of time with pencil and paper. 

Luz didn’t want to repeat the same message over and over; that just seemed unoriginal. But she was having trouble coming up with all these new sentences from the same old letters.

Attempt number _six_ was planned for tomorrow, though, and she needed something good.

Whoever worked the morning shifts at Coven Coffee Co. clearly did not mess around: five times in two weeks Luz had rearranged the message, and all five times it was back to normal by the time she brought Gus and Willow around.

This whole sign-scrambling business had turned out to be more difficult than anticipated. Luz felt simultaneously frustrated and invigorated by the challenge.

Her friends were totally fine with the repeated walks to the café, especially since she’d insist on buying them drinks to compensate for their wasted time, but Luz wanted so badly to show them her ridiculous messages. 

_Sixth time’s the charm, right?_

Anyways, Luz was mostly just killing time at the moment while she waited for Amity at The Owl House to discuss their art project. Her anagram ideas seemed to get worse and worse as her mind drifted. 

Luz had a ton of great ideas for the project, organized in an epic Top 10 list written in glittery gel pen. They were allowed to pick any theme they wanted for the ten artworks, and she planned to take full advantage of that freedom. 

When first Luz started high school, she hadn’t done well in her classes—apparently bringing live snakes to class to supplement her Azura book report wasn’t the best path to straight A’s—but over time, Luz learned to channel her creativity in more constructive (and less reptilian) ways.

She always made her work interesting, but also tried to stay within the bounds of an assignment. This strategy worked well to help her focus on school, and combined with an enthusiastic attitude, it made Luz a surprisingly good student. 

Except that she still had heaps of creative energy left over and not many outlets for it, which _may_ have led to certain harmless hijinks, such as repeatedly anagramming a café sign…

But whenever Luz got an opportunity to do something fun for school, she ran with it.

Hopefully Amity would be on board. They hadn’t gotten off on the best foot, and things had been awkward for the past couple weeks (awkward, as in Amity would speak maybe two words to her per day), but Luz figured the other girl was just on the quiet side. 

_I’m sure she’ll warm up once she sees all my project ideas! I bet she’s worried I won’t be a good partner, but this’ll show her I’m serious about making it awesome._

In case that didn’t work, Luz had snagged the best booth in the diner and ordered the best food on the menu. With Eda’s award-winning milkshakes on her side, friendship was inevitable.

—

Amity was getting so goddamn sick of these opening shifts.

FIVE times in TWO weeks the store sign had been rearranged into some obnoxious new message. She might even lose her job if she kept calling Lilith in a panic every couple days to send some last-minute employee over to fix it.

To really climb the ranks at Coven Coffee, Amity needed to keep this job at all costs, and get a glowing recommendation from her boss on top of it. This sign situation put a major wrench in her plans.

Incident #5 was the most infuriating yet: “M’LADY, PICTURE A DARTS PIT. BLAM! ALL COFFEE DRINKS ARE NOW PPPPINK.”

After reading that monstrosity, Amity had decided to take matters into her own hands. She brought the ladder up from storage for easier access and packed a headlamp in her bag so she could see the letters in the dark.

Then, the dreaded 5 a.m. alarm was set for 4:45, in order for her to arrive at the café early and have enough time that she could change the sign before customers started showing up.

On one hand, she hadn’t needed to call Lilith or disrupt the normal store routine—mornings were going pretty smoothly. On the other, Amity had only been doing this for three days, but she’d never felt so exhausted in her life.

Between soccer practice, hours of homework from APs, and the extra shifts at work, Amity was tired _before_ this whole ordeal. Throw in a truckload of added stress, take away 15 precious minutes of sleep, and you had a perfect recipe for sheer misery.

As she walked down Main Street on her way to the diner, Amity resolved to have a pleasant meeting with Luz, decide on an idea that would involve as little energy as possible, and get home early so she could go to bed.

With that thought in mind, Amity rounded one last corner, bringing The Owl House into full view.

It looked almost like a large, one-story house, with pale blue siding and wood bordering the roof and windows.

However, very unlike a house, a stripe of multicolored neon lights ran across the entire edge of the roof, and various flashing signs hung in each of the large front windows. 

The pièce de résistance was a large circular logo over the door, with the face of a cartoon owl—Amity didn’t know why, but just looking at its beady little eyes provoked some primal aggravation from the depths of her soul. 

Of course, Amity had seen the building many times, but hadn’t actually gone inside before.

She was not prepared for the sight that awaited her: tacky wood paneling all over, with brightly colored booths around the edges and a dozen stools lined up along the counter; owl paraphernalia covering every available surface (even the ceiling?!); and a large sign reading “Hall of Fame” near the kitchen.

Underneath the sign, there were at least a hundred different photos tacked up on the wall, all featuring a lady with wild hair posing with what appeared to be the nauseous winners of eating challenges, B-list celebrities, random people in eccentric outfits, and was that Guy Fieri? She thought she even spotted Luz in a few.

While Amity’s eyes tried to process the scene, her other senses were being assaulted as well. She somehow smelled pie, hamburgers, ice cream, and hashbrowns all at the same time, which was an incredibly greasy yet oddly pleasant aroma.

Could a smell be greasy? Amity had no idea, but if it could, this would be Exhibit A.

And the music! God, it was atrocious. Some sort of cheesy 80s pop mix? She shuddered.

Amid the sensory overload, Amity managed to spot her project partner in a booth by the window, sporting a green hoodie and the usual messy hair.

The sky outside threatened rain, but Luz radiated sunshine, flashing a huge smile when she caught sight of Amity.

“Hey, you made it! Just in time for the milkshakes! Do you like chocolate or strawberry?”

Amity slid into the booth opposite Luz, setting her sleek black backpack at her side.

“Uh, hi. Strawberry.”

Luz slid a gigantic milkshake across the table—it was bright pink, overflowing with whipped cream, and even topped with a fresh strawberry. That was a nice touch, she had to admit. Luz had apparently also ordered a basket of fries and a few hashbrowns.

“Thank you.”

“No problem,” said Luz, “Alright, so we’ve got pencils, paper, water, and of course the two essential food groups: sugar and fried potatoes. And I have my ideas all ready to go!”

Amity pulled out her list as well. She’d neatly bulleted a few topics that seemed simple to execute: leaves from different trees, household objects, bowls of fruit, and so on. 

“Me too. Let’s read each other’s?” Amity suggested.

Luz beamed, practically shoving her paper into Amity’s outstretched hand. As soon as Amity had handed over her own, she unfolded Luz’s.

It was crinkled all over and written in a rainbow assortment of gel pens, the type everyone obsessed over in elementary school. Amity raised her eyebrows. Little doodles dotted the margins, and the writing even glittered at a certain angle. 

—

Top 10 Best Topic Ideas for the Art Project!!!

( _by Luz Noceda_ )

1\. Our favorite superheroes riding mythical creatures (like griffins, manticores, wyverns <3)

2\. 10 pixel art pieces that make a badass fantasy RPG map when you line them up together (graph paper with colored markers)

3\. Ninjas hiding in watercolor landscapes of Mount Rainier National Park, painted using only salt water from Puget Sound

4\. Epic melee battles between Ancient Greeks and historical British women (ex: Achilles vs. Queen Elizabeth I, Plato vs. Jane Austen) 

5\. Oil paintings of dinosaurs playing parcheesi

6\. Our 10 best childhood memories engraved on different colored pumpkins :)

7\. Murder mystery! Come up with a super cool cipher and draw 10 tiny still-lifes of Clue weapons—ead pipe, revolver, candlestick—that together form a coded message about who the culprit is (???)

8\. A 1/28th scale diorama of downtown Owl Ridge amidst a zombie apocalypse 

9\. 10 pages of a noir comic book about two ducklings falling in ~looooove~

10\. Draw Pacific Northwest Coffee Shop AUs of our 10 favorite anime series (my favs are Mariner Sun, Assault on Giant, Blade Craft Offline, My Untruth in March, Small Sorceress Education, ahh there’s too many to write down!)

—

Amity opened and closed her mouth a few times before any words came out.

“Luz,” she began. 

The other girl looked up, all eagerness.

“These are all…” she paused, searching for the least offensive word. “...unique ideas, like, _very_ unique, but they don’t seem realistic. We only have a few months to finish this.”

Luz furrowed her brow. “Realistic? This is art class—aren’t we supposed to think outside the box?”

She picked up Amity’s list.

“A bowl of fake fruit from different angles? The same lake at morning, noon, and night?” Luz read. “Your ideas are kind of, and I’m really sorry, I’m not trying to be mean, but they’re kind of boring.”

“They’ll get us an A. Projects don’t need to be fun; I just want to save time and do something _normal_.”

Why did Luz seem to almost flinch at that? The girl righted her expression so quickly that Amity couldn’t tell if she’d imagined it.

Silence followed. Amity sipped her milkshake (and holy shit, these things were not overrated—it was incredible) while Luz munched contemplatively on a hashbrown.

Upon shoving the rest of the potato snack into her mouth and wiping her greasy hands on a napkin, Luz leaned back and leveled Amity with a piercing gaze. The forest green of her sweatshirt drew a striking contrast to her brown eyes.

_Is that a weird thing to notice right now? Whatever._

“Why don’t you want to have fun?” asked Luz.

Amity’s indignation snapped her out of whatever that strange eye-staring trance was—she did not enjoy being interrogated, much less by a random classmate.

“I don’t have anything against fun, but I don’t like your ideas.”

Luz crossed her arms. “Why not?”

“I don’t know. They’re just…” Amity trailed off.

“Just what?”

“They’re just dumb, okay?”

She felt herself begin to flush with anger. Why was Luz pushing her on this?

Right on cue, Luz kept pushing: “ _Why_ are they dumb?” 

Amity’s tone was tinged with desperation. “Look, it doesn’t even matter! We just have to get a good grade on this. We _need_ to! So-”

“Amity,” Luz interrupted, voice soft but steady. At some point, the girl’s expression had shifted from stubborn to mildly concerned, but Amity didn’t notice.

She was too caught up in herself as the pent-up bitterness from the past weeks seeped out like acid and ate away at her restraint.

“Why do you need to get a good grade so badly that you can’t enjoy the actual learning part?” asked Luz.

Something snapped in Amity. Acid was on her tongue now, corroding her words. 

“Can you stop with all these questions?! You don’t even know me! I just need to get an A in this class and save my energy for other things, because I’m fucking exhausted, okay, but I still need to be the best! That’s it. I need to be the best, and I’m going to do it, and this stupid art project is not going to get in the way.”

“Wh-” Luz started to say.

“Don’t you dare ask me why! It’s for my career! For my FUTURE!” Amity’s face was probably bright red now, and emotion ran hot through her bloodstream. 

At the moment, she was actually grateful for the peppy music and general bustle of the diner, since nobody seemed to even notice her outburst. God only knows what kind of stain that would put on the family image: “Youngest Blight Has Breakdown In Classless Diner; Cusses Out Innocent Group Project Partner!”

Luz blinked at her with wide eyes for a second before she spoke again. Her tone was now quiet in a way that scared Amity a little. As if it didn’t need volume because it held the truth. As if those brown eyes saw right through her.

“What’s the point of working towards this future dream if you can’t let yourself be happy in the present?”

Amity had no idea how to respond. Nobody had ever asked her anything like that before. 

“I-” 

She what?

“Well-” she tried again.

This was pointless. Amity needed to go home. She grabbed her bag from the seat, yanking it towards her and starting to slide out from the booth.

The next few seconds happened in slow motion. The backpack strap caught on the straw in Amity’s milkshake. The straw tipped the entire glass along with it. 

And she could only watch in horror as a bright pink tsunami crashed all over her new white sweater. 

Fuck. That stain would _not_ be coming out any time soon.

“Amity! Oh no, let me go get you some towels. Stay right there, okay?”

Amity mustered a dumbfounded nod. The sticky remains of her strawberry shake soaked through the knitted fabric and onto her skin. 

A small puddle was accumulating at her feet. _Drip, drip, drip._

Soon, Luz sprinted back over, arms overflowing with a pile of dish towels. Except, she didn’t seem to know exactly what to do with them, so she fumbled around for a second and then just sort of pressed one against the epicenter of the milkshake disaster.

Also known as Amity’s chest. 

Luz’s hands were warm even through the rag, and if Amity’s cheeks got a little flushed right then, it was purely out of embarrassment.

After the two of them had cleaned up enough that strawberry goo was no longer actively dripping off of Amity’s clothes, Luz broke the awkward silence.

“So, um, how far away do you live?”

Amity gave her a quizzical look. “About a 15-minute drive, why?”

“Well, my house is right behind the diner, and you shouldn’t have to drive that far home in gross clothes—plus, you’ll get your car dirty. You can come borrow some of mine.”

“You don’t have to do that. I’m fine,” said Amity.

“I mean, I guess I don’t _have_ to, but I’m still going to.” Luz slung her own backpack over one shoulder and Amity’s on the other. “Come on,” she smiled.

Amity figured she didn’t have much choice here. Besides, Luz had a point about getting her car dirty; sticky milkshake residue was bad enough on just her clothes.

Luz went up to the counter and yelled to someone in the kitchen that she was going to walk home. Amity didn’t catch the raspy reply, but it sounded vaguely affirmative. Luz turned back to Amity and gave an amiable shrug before leading her through to the back door.

They exited into a quiet alleyway and crossed straight over to a door on the other side. As Luz dug through her pockets for the house key, Amity noticed how dark the sky had gotten; the air was thick with imminent rain.

“Found it! Okay, in we go,” said Luz.

The pair stepped inside. Amity only got a few seconds to take in the house’s appearance before Luz started up a creaky staircase to the right.

It was less chaotic than the diner, but she still noticed an eclectic assortment of wall decorations by the stairwell. 

There were some sweet candid pictures, featuring the same wild-haired lady as the diner wall—who Amity concluded must be the owner, Eda—along with Luz and a black and white dog.

Normal enough, except for being right next to a huge sword and shield, a bunch of posters featuring different owls and slogans like “MY OWL IS SMARTER THAN YOUR HONOR STUDENT,” and what appeared to be a parking ticket taped onto a sheet of pink paper, covered in hearts and captioned with “Baby’s 1st Criminal Offense!”

Amity didn’t even want to ask. When they got upstairs, Luz showed her to the bathroom, which shockingly didn’t seem to have a single owl-themed item.

“Hmm, you might just want to rinse off in the shower if it’s really sticky. One sec, I’ll grab you a towel and some clothes.” She darted out of the room, leaving Amity standing stiffly by the sink.

As she looked at her reflection, the shame started to sink in. She’d completely lost it in front of Luz over such a tiny argument. Sure, the other girl had been annoying, but never malicious, and it was clear that they both cared about making a nice project. 

_Ugh._ This day had been a lot. Amity almost felt like crying, but that would just make things even more embarrassing.

Right then, Luz rushed back in and handed her a pile of clothes topped with a fluffy towel. Her words tumbled out in a heap:

“Okay so I sort of stole one of Eda’s nice towels but hopefully she won’t be mad at me—oh it’s clean though, don’t worry—and here’s some comfy clothes that should fit but let me know if they don’t and please tell me if there’s anything else you need!”

“Thank you,” Amity replied softly.

“Oh! Let me show you how the shower works—it’s kind of weird at first.”

Luz pulled open the shower curtain and Amity jolted backwards as a literal fucking owl flew out.

Go figure. She _knew_ the lack of owl decor in the room seemed too good to be true.

“Owlbert! You are so naughty! Eda said no more hanging out in the shower!”

The bird cooed in what Amity assumed to be defiance.

“Don’t you sass me in front of a guest!” Luz turned to Amity. “I’m so sorry about this,” she said.

“Out you go! If you behave for the rest of the night, then I won’t tell Eda about this. Deal?”

It gave a quick chirp, then hopped out of the bathroom. Luz opened her mouth to apologize again.

“It’s fine,” Amity reassured. _She’s gone to enough trouble for me already._

“So, uh, how does the shower work?” she asked. 

Luz shot her a relieved smile.

—

Amity felt much better after rinsing off, although she still smelled aggressively of strawberry. She toweled off her hair and slipped the elastic that had previously held it in her standard half-up half-down style onto her wrist.

Luz hadn’t been kidding about these clothes being comfortable. The navy blue hoodie was soft, but more than just that. It had the specific, well-loved kind of softness that only comes after years of wear.

And Amity didn’t own any sweatpants, but she was now heavily considering the investment. She felt like a human marshmallow. In a good way.

Luz had stuck a bag for her dirty clothes right outside the door, so Amity placed them inside before heading downstairs.

She spotted Luz at a table in what must’ve been the dining room, deep in concentration as she jotted something down in a notebook.

Luz jumped at the creaking noise when Amity began descending the stairs, and hurriedly shoved the notebook into her backpack.

_Strange. What’s she writing in there?_ Amity was intrigued, though she knew she had no right to ask about it.

Luz started to say something, but seemed to freeze when she looked up at Amity.

A beat of silence.

“...Luz?”

“Nothing, it’s nothing!” Luz gave an awkward laugh. “You’re just, um, rocking the outfit! And your hair’s different, too.”

Another beat before she continued.

“...Anyways, feeling better now? I was thinking we could finish deciding on our topic another day so you can get home.”

“A lot better. And yes, that would be nice,” said Amity. She put on her jacket, the only part of her previous outfit that was still wearable, then grabbed her backpack.

Luz walked her to the door and they stepped outside into the alleyway, where it was now almost dark. Tiny raindrops bounced off the pavement.

“I can walk you to your car?”

Amity shook her head. “I parked far away. And it’s raining.”

“Alright, well, I’ll see you tomorrow then?” asked Luz.

“See you tomorrow.” 

Buttoning up her jacket, Amity started down the alley. Luz stepped back inside and began to close the door.

Amity hesitated.

“...Luz?”

The girl poked her head back out, dark hair flopping to the side. “Yeah?”

Amity’s voice was barely audible. “Thank you-” 

She cleared her throat and tried again.

“Thank you for everything. Really. I’m sorry for raising my voice at you. And um, I’ll think about what you said. About the future and the present.”

Before Luz could reply, she turned and walked away as fast as dignity would allow.

Amity’s heart raced the entire way back to her car. Her mother would disapprove of showing such weakness, no doubt. 

But as she drove home to the tune of her favorite (non-80s) music, the only thought in her normally racing mind was that Luz’s hoodie smelled like pine and vanilla.

And Amity found that for once, she didn’t really care what her mother thought.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> song explanation: I just feel like it has the same blindly upbeat energy as Luz's ridiculous list of ideas, and it's very 80s-inspired a la the diner music.
> 
> ...also I was unbelievably extra and made a playlist of "Eda's Diner Type Vibes" — mainly for my own enjoyment (unlike Amity I fucking LOVE 80s pop), but you are beyond welcome to listen, ideally while drinking a milkshake and/or eating hashbrowns: open.spotify.com/playlist/2rDsTWguWw9F4Fy4QIAQ9I?si=MGrJj5sER2GzNaJIZNg0tA
> 
> art by me, editing by the show-stopping/spectacular Magpie, and as always, thank you for reading! I’d love to hear what you think so far  
> P.S. one or more of the posters in the drawing may or may not contain some slight foreshadowing...


	4. Amity Makes A Compromise & Luz Finds An Intriguing Surprise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EXCITING NEWS EVERYONE—I made a playlist on spotify with all the songs so it's not a pain to look them up individually! rn it's sad and empty because I mean there's only four so far, but I'll update it when each new chapter comes out. here's the link-- https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0NZ5Jeg1nZoZ1TBNd2v7Ld?si=VcwLNBzNSn6ZiSNzQNGvdw
> 
> song for chapter 4: West Coast by Hey Marseilles

_October 19th_

The Coven Coffee Company sign stood like a proud soldier in the early morning mist, proclaiming:

“IF DAPPER RAPPERS INSPIRE U, DON’T ATTACK A PAN! BOLDLY LICK ELF. MMM”

In reality, the sign was less like a soldier and more like a battlefield, what with all the constant meddling it had endured since the start of the month.

Amity surveyed the damage with a disdainful sigh. She was the real soldier here—unwillingly drafted into this absurd battle of wills, but loyal to her cause nonetheless.

_And this one isn’t even a real anagram! They just flipped over that W to use as an M!_

Disgraceful, honestly. But not unexpected. The early hour, the freezing rain soaking through her jacket, and the nonsensical message before her were by this point becoming routine. 

Generally speaking, Amity stuck to her routines religiously, but she was more than happy to disrupt this one.

Luz had said to stop focusing on the future so much and make the present more enjoyable, right? Well, Amity was going to do just that!

Eight times now had Coven Coffee’s sign been mangled by that no-good troublemaker, and with the following measures, Amity planned to make sure there would be no ninth:

1\. Cutting off the main entry point. Short of lugging a huge ladder all the way to the café, the only way Amity could think of to reach the top of the tall sign was climbing up the pole. To prevent this, she’d done some research and purchased a bottle of hydraulic fluid (for water resistance—rain wouldn’t wash it away). It should make the pole much too slippery to climb.

2\. Changing the seasonal specials listed. Maybe the prankster just had some specific vendetta against pumpkin spice lattes and apple cider? Worth a try.

3\. A few minutes ago, she had written an absolutely _scathing_ note to the vandal. A grumpy, pre-coffee Amity wasnot someone to be trifled with, and she was confident that if the first two tactics failed, her barrage of harsh words would intimidate the mysterious delinquent enough to put a stop to this nightmare.

Amity always felt much better with a good plan in action. And this might even qualify as a great plan, if she did say so herself.

Heartened by confidence, it seemed to Amity that she finally had her life under control once again.

Her good mood persisted through opening shift, the drive to school, and even after Boscha’s fifteen-minute diatribe about all the “dork-errific dweebazoids” running against her in the upcoming race for Class President.

It only dampened slightly when she walked into Art class and saw Luz’s keychain-laden backpack sitting on their shared desk. Luz wasn’t even there, but the backpack alone prompted a ripple of embarrassment from the diner incident a few days ago. 

Amity knew she’d apologized already, but she still couldn’t help but cringe at her own undignified behavior.

Even worse, she’d been feeling so awkward the past couple days that she’d just avoided interaction with Luz altogether.

They were talking even less than before, which was actually impressive, considering how little they talked before. The hurt in Luz’s eyes didn’t escape Amity; in fact, it made her insides squirm with guilt.

She walked to the back of the classroom and sat down at the desk, placing her own backpack next to Luz’s. 

The clock on the wall ticked a faint rhythm. Twenty-five minutes until class began—enough time to get a head start on her reading for English. 

Amity was turning to reach for her book when she noticed a crumpled paper in the mesh side pocket of Luz’s backpack.

_Is that..?_

Sure enough, closer inspection revealed a familiar heading written in shimmering gel pen: “Top 10 Best Topic Ideas for the Art Project!!!”

Amity considered it for a moment, then reached into the pocket and tentatively pulled out the list. An idea was taking shape in her brain… 

When Luz traipsed into class fifteen minutes later, the idea had become a fully-formed plan. 

Amity tried to stay calm and collected as Luz sat down next to her. This was _not_ a big deal, and she had even practiced what to say, but no logic could mitigate the sudden pang of anxiety in her gut.

Regardless of the discomfort, though, Amity was going to swallow her pride and make it up to her project partner. Luz deserved that much.

“Hi.”

Luz looked startled at the greeting.

“Uh, hey?”

Right then, Amity realized she’d completely neglected to plan how to go about starting this conversation.

_Oh God._ An awkward pause ensued as she fumbled for something to say.

“So, you left your backpack at your seat…” she began. Not the best opener, but it would have to do.

“Yeah, um, I was in here earlier, but they had waffles in the cafeteria today so I went to get some with my friends.”

Luz glanced around the room, then back to Amity.

“...Don’t tell anyone, but they had a bunch left over so I nabbed some extras. Check it out!”

She pulled out a parcel of paper towels from the front pocket of her hoodie—which reminded Amity, she really needed to return the one she borrowed from Luz—and unwrapped the top to reveal that it was indeed filled with waffles.

When Amity didn’t respond after a few seconds, the enthusiasm faded from Luz’s expression, and that dreaded hurt creeped back in. She hastily stashed the waffles back inside her pocket.

“Sorry. I’m getting carried away again,” said Luz.

“No! No. It’s not that, I just-”

Amity took a steadying breath.

“I wanted to talk to you about the project,” she continued, holding out Luz’s list. “I saw this in your backpack pocket. And it got me thinking.”

Luz took the paper, and their hands brushed against each other as she did so. Amity’s nerves inexplicably doubled, but she pressed on.

“We don’t have the time to do half of these, and the other half are…” 

_Is there a gentle way to say ‘completely absurd?’_

“...not topics I know enough about. Like here,” she said, pointing to #6 on the list, “if we carved childhood memories on pumpkins, they’d be rotten before the due date. But maybe we could combine a couple of your ideas, like this one and the fantasy RPG map. Well, really just the map part—I have no clue what an RPG is.”

Luz looked genuinely horrified at that. Amity would have to look it up later.

“Anyways, what if we made a sort of ‘memory map?’ We could both pick out five locations where we have significant memories, then go to each one and draw something we see there. Or, I don’t know, maybe you have a better idea?”

Amity held her breath as she waited for Luz’s response. 

She rarely compromised, and didn’t cope well with any kind of vulnerability. Objectively speaking, this olive branch was a minor risk, but it still felt like going out on a limb—wobbly and precarious.

Amity kept her eyes on the paper, bracing herself for Luz to tell her that it would be a terrible topic, or maybe to announce that she’d found a different partner who was less of a total jerk.

But when she finally looked up, Luz had a huge, ridiculous grin on her face.

“Amity, that’s perfect! It’ll be so cool! So so cool!”

It’d be time-consuming, that’s for sure, and way more of a pain than just doing a few still-lifes of apples. But also, she supposed, a tiny bit cool.

“Oh my gosh, okay, where should we go first?” asked Luz.

“We?”

“Oh, I mean, we don’t have to go together if you don’t want—I just figured that’s what you meant. But it _would_ be more fun, right? I always draw better with company!”

Amity was the opposite; she always did better on her own. 

Although, now that she thought about it, she’d never actually tried drawing around other people. Except maybe Willow, back when they were little kids.

“Um, if you really want to, then I guess we can,” said Amity.

“Totally! Let’s think of some places nearby to start with, and then maybe go sometime next week?”

“Sure.”

As the word left her lips, Amity’s anxiety melted into relief. Luz’s joyful energy had overwhelmed her when they first met, but now she found that it comforted her.

And on that note, Amity figured she should probably end this interaction before she messed something up again. 

As it turned out, there was no need to—Luz was already busy brainstorming a list of map locations in her notebook.

Amity checked the clock. There was still a decent while until class, so she pulled out her reading from earlier. 

Finally able to relax, she lost herself in the pages and let the minutes float by.

Luz’s soft voice brought her back to earth:

“Hey.”

Amity looked up from the book with a questioning glance.

“Do you want a waffle? They’re still warm.”

Luz held one out to her—crispy and golden and, uh, straight from her hoodie pocket.

_A pocket waffle. She’s giving me a damn pocket waffle._

Amity’s parents were firmly against any sort of junk food. She’d already eaten a well-balanced breakfast. And the thing was severely squished on one side from the unorthodox transportation method. 

But Luz’s tone made her suspect that the offer was about more than just breakfast food. Forgiveness, maybe? Friendship? 

Besides, it smelled delightful. What did she have to lose? 

Amity took the waffle.

“Thank you,” she said simply.

Luz’s smile lit up the room, and Amity’s stomach did a somersault.

_Ha. Just nervous that the pocket waffle’s going to give me food poisoning. That’s a bit of tongue twister, isn’t it? Pocket waffle pocket waffle pocket waffle—_

Her internal rambling was cut off by the starting bell. Mr. Bump quieted the class and began a lecture on the principles of composition.

Thanks to their spot in the back of the room, nobody noticed Luz’s surreptitious snacking during the lesson.

Amity never ate in class, but she was very tempted—her waffle would get cold if she didn’t eat it soon. 

Just as she was about to take a tiny nibble, an elbow poked her side.

She looked to her left to see Luz stuffing an _entire_ waffle in her mouth all at once.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Amity whispered, trying her best to stifle a burst of incredulous laughter.

Luz wrote something down in her notebook and held it up, cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk:

“ _~MAGIC~_ ”

Amity just rolled her eyes and took the first bite of waffle in an attempt to stop the smile playing on her lips.

But it was fluffy and warm, and Luz was beaming at her, and she ended up smiling anyways.

—

_October 21st_

Luz stood next to the sign pole, double-checking her latest anagram plan one last time before she went up.

She leaned back slightly, and, as soon as her body weight was fully against the pole, went careening backwards. The paper flew from her hand and her back collided with hard pavement. 

Luckily, Luz’s jacket somewhat cushioned the blow. She stumbled to her feet, still a bit dazed, and retrieved her paper, which she then stashed in a black folder, appropriately labeled “Super Secret Stuff — DO NOT OPEN!” (a highly effective warning, no doubt).

Luz dusted off her windbreaker and turned back to the pole to investigate. A poke with her finger revealed some sort of greasy coating on the metal.

_Why would someone put—_

_Ohhhh!_

That was a pretty dang clever move! But unfortunately for whoever greased the pole, Luz didn’t actually reach the sign by climbing it. 

_They’ll_ never _guess how I really get up there…_ Luz headed behind the café, basking in the feeling of being one step ahead.

Coven Coffee was towards the edge of Owl Ridge, situated right in front of a tangle of fir trees and mossy undergrowth. An excellent hiding spot.

Phone flashlight in hand, Luz waded through brambles until she could barely see the street. This grove was dark at the best of times, but at night it became an inky black.

At this point, though, Luz knew the way by heart. She soon reached a particular tree, with a particular cheerful otter carved onto its massive trunk, and reached around it until her hand made contact with cool metal.

_Bingo!_

Luz grabbed the pair of stilts—despite being 8 feet tall, they were surprisingly light—and trekked back towards Coven Coffee.

Most responsible adults would never allow their children to engage in petty crime, much less aid and abet them. 

Fortunately, Eda wasn’t a responsible adult— she’d given Luz’s plan her seal of approval (“Flagrant vandalism? Sowing seeds of chaos? Sabotaging my dear, sweet sister’s flourishing business? …I’ve never been so proud in my life.”) and even offered up her closet for any supplies Luz might need. 

‘Closet,’ referring to the entire basement of The Owl House, which was packed floor to ceiling with every miscellaneous object imaginable.

Useless infomercial products, jars of pickled eyeballs, a Nacho Cheese Dorito bearing an uncanny likeness to the Virgin Mary… Luz would’ve been more surprised if there _hadn’t_ been a pair of stilts in there.

Regardless, they were an invaluable asset, Luz thought as she exited the thicket of trees. 

_Step 1 complete—stilts acquired! Now for Step 2…_

Step 2 involved one of the huge pine trees near the café parking lot; it had a sturdy, low-hanging branch that was perfect for climbing.

Luz leaned the stilts against the tree, then scrambled up until she stood upon the branch. The added height allowed her to place her feet onto the small platforms at the top of the stilts.

With an enthusiastic shove, Luz was on her way to another successful letter swap.

She _was_ , until she got close enough to the sign to make out the letters in the dark, and discovered that they no longer spelled out the message she’d become so familiar with. 

Instead, the sign read: “NOW SERVING CINNAMON HOT COCOA—TRY ONE WITH SOY OR OAT MILK!”

Oh. Huh.

Why was she… kind of bummed out? It almost felt like losing a friend.

In a more practical sense, it also meant that the anagram she’d planned wasn’t going to work with the new letters. And Luz didn’t have time to come up with a whole new one—she had a math test tomorrow and needed some extra sleep.

Ugh. But she’d gone to the trouble of coming all the way out here, so maybe she could just write something quick and not worry about using every letter... 

Luz had a real eye for anagrams by now, and right away she spotted the letters to at least leave a classic “YO MAMA.” 

_No, wait, this test is worth a huge chunk of my semester grade, so I should head home now. Every minute of sleep counts, right?_

_...On the other hand: yo mama. Plus, it’ll only take a couple min-_

Then something strange in the bottom corner of the sign caught her eye. A small square of white.

Luz really did need to get home, but damn, she never could resist mysterious pieces of paper.

As fast as 8-foot stilts allow, she stepped all the way over to the sign. The silver embroidery on Luz’s fanny pack caught the moonlight as she removed her lockpicks and fiddled around with the lock.

This part was one of Luz’s favorites. Every time she rearranged the sign, the café people attached a new lock to the cover, which was probably intended to discourage her, but really it just added one more fun puzzle for her to look forward to.

After seeing enough badass secret agent characters escape dungeons with just a bobby pin, a young Luz had determined that lockpicking would be an absolutely essential skill for her future.

Throughout those months of practice, her mom would tell her that lockpicks were only useful in movies; no _realistic_ situation would call for one. 

Ha! Good thing Luz never listened! Today’s lock was a worthy adversary, but it soon popped open with a satisfying click.

She slid the cover aside and reached for the note inside, then tucked it safely in her fanny pack.

Luz grinned. _Wow—this is way better than any anagram I could come up with! Maybe it’s a cipher! Or a riddle, or a treasure map, or an ancient prophecy, or a secret admirer, or…_

A million theories swirled around her head all the way home. As soon as she arrived, Luz kicked off her shoes at the door and clattered up the stairs toward her bedroom.

The formerly dozing King jolted awake when Luz flicked on the light switch and hopped into her desk chair. He scrambled up after her, sniffing at the note as Luz finished unfolding it.

She smoothed out the creases with her thumbs, then breathlessly held it up for inspection. King seemed unimpressed by the scrawl of black pen, which read:

_Dear Hooligan,_

_I despise you more than I could possibly articulate. It’s 5:17 in the godforsaken morning and you are RUINING. MY. LIFE._

_You think you’re so damn funny, don’t you? Well I’M NOT LAUGHING._

_Do you know how long it takes to come up with a suitable announcement about café specials?! No, you probably don’t, because all you know how to do is write inane bullshit about drapery and elf licking._

_Listen up, you disgusting scoundrel! You reprehensible ruffian!_

_The only way you’d be reading this is if by some chance the hydraulic fluid doesn’t foil your little operation. But in case you somehow make it up here, I have a simple message that even your subpar cognitive faculties should be able to process:_

_Never Touch My Sign Again._

_If you dare to lay one single finger on it… Well, suffice to say you do NOT want to get on my bad side. I mean, you’re already on my bad side, but you do NOT want to get on my even worse side._

_Do you even know who I am? I am a fucking LIONESS and you’re just a pathetic meerkat shitting all over my den! I will hunt you down, and I will_ ~~_kill_~~ _report you to the proper authorities. You’ll rue the day you ever meddled in my affairs!_

_Lowest regards,_

_Your Mortal Enemy_

This had to be a joke, right? Nobody on Earth would actually declare themselves Luz’s mortal enemy over some goofy little pranks.

Not to mention, no one used the word ‘scoundrel’ unironically except pirates, LARPers, and Regency Era British nobility. No, it was definitely a joke, and a hilarious one at that. 

‘Dear Hooligan?’ Comedy genius, pure and simple. Well, Luz had plenty of lighthearted dramatics up her sleeve too! Her subpar cognitive faculties were already scheming up a reply.

But first, a little business. She pulled out her trusty folder and leafed through its contents. Old anagrams, no. Stilt safety protocols, no…

Aha—the mission instructions! When Luz was still planning out her procedure, she’d drafted a step-by-step guide to changing the sign, which she kept updated with more recent notes as well.

Luz reached around King, still on her lap and now asleep once again, for her favorite pencil. It sparkled in every color of the rainbow, with the Good Witch Azura’s iconic light spell glyphs patterned all over and ‘Creativity is the REAL magic!’ emblazoned along the side. 

_“Pole is super greasy!”_ Luz added to her notes. _“DO NOT LEAN!”_

Alrighty, next up: a witty reply to dazzle that mysterious letter writer. The mere prospect of a secret pen pal made her heart pound with excitement. 

Luz put pencil to paper and felt a thrill spark up her arm. She could write anything. Anything!

_The Good Witch Azura’s out here spitting mad truth, as always. Creativity really_ is _magical._

— 

The next night, the sign was once again scrambled, and the following note—adorned with a multicolored assortment of stars and smiley faces—was tucked in the bottom corner:

_Dear ‘fucking LIONESS,’_

_Thanks a bunch for the amazing note. It really made my day! And you know, I’ve always wanted a mortal enemy ;)_

_I’m SO looking forward to our epic battles, and maybe some more hilarious letters too. Seriously, that was like, better than any supervillain monologue I’ve ever heard—somebody should totally hire you as a screenwriter._

_Anyways, I hope today’s anagram isn’t too ‘inane.’ You’d be surprised how long it takes to come up with all these!!_

_Have a great day! <3 _

_—Pathetic Meerkat_

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> song explanation: this one's a little on the nose lol my explanation is that (drumroll please)... the fic is set on the west coast. but ALSO this chapter is where Luz and Amity are finally on the precipice of a whole bunch of adventures (and mishaps) that they'll go through together. so I like this lyric especially: 'go out to the unknown/we'll make it our own' 
> 
> art + editing by the ~never the same, totally unique~ Magpie, who is rightfully shaming me for being lame and posting the chapter late :((( sorryyyy... 
> 
> but AHH the art for this chapter is definitely my favorite so far--like peep the little fanny pack, the notes on the margins, the 'secret code' which is actually the cipher from the real show... how is my beta this much of a genius idk idk
> 
> also just real quick wanted to thank all of you for reading—I’m still in shock that this fic got to 100 kudos?! and 1000 hits???? and every single comment really truly makes my day so seriously, thanks to each of you. much love :)


	5. Two Rival Campaigns...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heads up: I decided to split chapter 5 up into two parts because it was getting insANELY long, so for all intents and purposes this is like chapter 5a--meaning it's a lot of setup and there's no art (because the art we planned is from a scene in 5b). BUT hopefully it's still enjoyable, or at least worth reading for part B!
> 
> song for this chapter: Natural by Julia Shapiro

_October 24th_

_Salutations, you sickening scoundrel._

_I didn’t think it was possible to abhor you any more than I did previously, and yet your patronizing reply has done exactly that. Since you refuse to heed my warning, I have no choice but to unleash my full wrath upon your childish schemes._

_This is your last chance to stop. Do NOT take it lightly._

_Hatefully,_

_Your Mortal Enemy._

—

_October 27th_

_My Dearest Mortal Enemy,_

_Oh my gosh! Wow, that alliteration at the beginning is so well-done. I know I said you should be a screenwriter, but maybe poetry would be even better! Or both—why choose, you know?_

_Anyways, great to hear from you again! Very excited to learn what your full wrath will entail…_

_Much love,_

_Childish Schemer_

  
  


The paper sat in Amity’s pocket, thoroughly pulverized. If not for the fact that she was driving her soccer carpool back to school, she would have continued crumpling it into oblivion.

The pranks were vexing on their own, but being toyed with like this got under Amity’s skin more than anything else. Her carefully constructed public image relied on impressive accomplishments, impeccable appearance, and above all, being taken _seriously_.

An initial rush of fury consumed most of the day, but Amity had learned long ago how to channel such emotion into productivity, whether that meant pages of vigorous notes in her classes or explosive fast breaks on the soccer field. 

The trouble came at the end of practice, though, when anger gave way to malaise. All Amity wanted was a few minutes alone, but her teammates depended on her to give them a ride back from the practice field.

Boscha’s incessant prattling grated on Amity’s ears. From the passenger seat, she ranted to Skara and Amelia about the student council election—and about Willow, who was running against her.

“Ha! Who would even vote for Willow? Skara, give me a word that rhymes with Willow.” 

“Hmm, pillow!”

“Who would even vote for Willow? She’s a pushover softie, just like a pillow!”

“Yeah, for sure,” said Amelia, “she’s totally useless, just like trying to set up a dating profile on Zillow!”

The car went dead silent. _For once,_ thought Amity.

“Hey, Amelia?” said Boscha.

“Yes?” the other girl replied earnestly.

“NEVER do that again.”

“...’kay.”

Boscha rolled her eyes and continued. “Anyways…”

Amity tuned out the rest, instead focusing on the steady pressure of the gas pedal against her foot and the bright colors of fall leaves swirling all over the street.

Luz was waiting for her back at school to go on their first project outing. Amity somewhat dreaded it.

Of course, she was glad that the two of them had cleared the air—the past few days of class with Luz had been, well, nice.

But those were only brief interactions, while this little trip down memory lane, so to speak, would take at least a couple hours. And with the memory of their last extracurricular excursion bouncing around Amity’s brain… 

_Something’s going to go wrong. Maybe everything. Probably everything._

The rest of the carpool laughed when Boscha declared that Willow was so unlikeable that the only way she could possibly make friends was to grow them in her freaky greenhouse. 

Amity just turned up the music to drown out the chatter; she’d hit her limit of social interaction about twenty minutes ago.

At this, Boscha took a momentary break from her tirade to scowl at Amity.

“Okay first of all, _rude!_ We’re talking here! And second of all, this song sucks. What even is this playlist? ‘Boring, sad music for indie girls to wallow in?’”

She snatched Amity’s phone from its holder on the dashboard and began scrolling through it.

“Hey! Put that back!”

But it was too late; Boscha had already exited out of the playlist and hit shuffle on Amity’s entire library.

Amity schooled her expression to conceal a sudden wave of panic. 95% of her music was similar low-key indie songs, so she shouldn’t worry.

Nevertheless, if Boscha stumbled across any of the other 5%—composed of sappy love songs, whale noises (to help her fall asleep), and various fantasy movie soundtracks—Amity would never hear the end of it.

Boscha was her ‘friend,’ sure, but Amity could tell how much it bothered her to always be one rank below—soccer star but not team captain, salutatorian but not valedictorian, daughter of a prominent family but not one so wealthy or well-respected as the Blights. Amity didn’t care for such petty competition, but she did need to keep her spot at the top.

All of which was to say: if Boscha discovered her trove of One Direction singles and singalongs from the _Good Witch Azura_ musical episode, the entirety of Hexside High would be informed within 24 hours.

Luckily, Boscha just forwarded through a few songs until she found something more upbeat and stuck Amity’s phone in the cupholder.

_Thank God._

A few minutes later, Amity backed her car into a parking spot by the front entrance of the high school.

Everyone hopped out, and the other three got their bags from the trunk while Amity looked around for Luz, who was supposed to be meeting her here.

Skara and Amelia thanked Amity for the ride and headed out. Boscha, meanwhile, had apparently gotten the strap of her duffel stuck on something, and was now repeatedly yanking on it with all her might. 

Brute force, as per usual.

“Ugh! Amity, I think you need a new car. This one’s, like, broken.”

Amity leaned against the car door, unimpressed. “Uh huh.”

Just as Boscha finally pulled the bag free, an enthusiastic yell echoed across the parking lot.

“Amity!”

Luz was walking towards them, waving an arm above her head.

“O. M. G! _That’s_ who you’re picking up? What are you hanging around with Luz-er for?” said Boscha.

Amity had never heard that nickname before (and actually had never given much thought to Luz’s social status), but Boscha’s haughty sneer gave the impression that it was a well-worn moniker. Amity’s stomach twisted at the implications.

“That’s the most childish thing to come out of your mouth all day, which is really saying something. Also, not even the right way to pronounce her name.”

Boscha didn’t seem to notice her reply, or at least didn’t react.

“Ew, and she’s friends with Willow Park?”

_What?_

Amity snapped her gaze away from Boscha to look at the two figures walking on either side of Luz.

She recognized the tall boy on the left as the President of the Dinosaur Appreciation Society, which was a niche but very popular club at Hexside. On the right was, indeed, her old friend Willow.

‘Old’ in the sense that they were no longer friends.

“Oh, I just thought of another good one—Willow Park? More like Willow Question-Mark! ‘Cause _why_ the hell would anyone vote for her!”

“Get the hell out of here,” said Amity.

“Wow, someone’s extra moody today! What, are you trying to protect the dork squadron? I mean, come o-”

“Boscha. OUT.”

“Haha, whatever. Have fun inhaling all the loser fumes! But you’d better stay far away from me tomorrow—I hear weirdo is contagious for up to 48 hours after exposure.”

And with that, she strutted off towards her cherry red Porsche convertible. 

Amity rolled her eyes. She knew full well Boscha would be pulling up a chair at their lunch table tomorrow, regardless of anything she said.

In the meantime, Amity had a memory map to make. And an awkward encounter with Willow to endure.

  
  


— 

Luz sat with Willow and Gus beneath the huge oak tree on the outskirts of Hexside’s student parking lot, brainstorming ideas for Willow’s Class President campaign. Various papers filled with notes and to-do lists were strewn about the grass in front of them.

She tried her best to focus on Willow’s explanation of her campaign plan; it entailed an abundance of scheduling, which was not Luz’s forté, but she knew just how much her friend cared about the campaign. 

Willow had been the victim of relentless bullying all throughout middle school. In 9th grade, when Luz met her, the outright harassment had quieted to cruel whispers in the hallway. Even so, the scars didn’t go away, and Willow’s self-esteem was at a low.

But last year, Willow got elected as a member of the student council, and things started to change.

She’d advocated for anti-bullying policies, helped smaller clubs get enough funding, and written a proposal of measures (which the administration actually implemented!) to make it easier for trans students to remove their deadnames from school documents.

Willow’s dedication, kindness, and ability to truly listen made her new friends at every turn. Of course, Luz and Gus cheered her on every step of the way, and got to watch her gain confidence as the year went on.

And all that was only as a council member! Willow hadn’t explicitly said so, but Luz understood that this campaign for President was the culmination of her progress so far. 

Winning would allow her to push for school-wide changes and make Hexside a better place for everyone. And maybe she’d finally believe it when Luz told her how awesome she was.

So if it took a bunch of boring scheduling to get there, then Luz would schedule like nobody had ever scheduled before! 

“So, you guys can really come over this weekend and help me make the posters?” asked Willow.

“Of course! Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” said Luz.

“Ditto,” said Gus. 

“I hope this is enough—there’s the posters, then finalizing my campaign statements, then the debate.” Willow crossed her arms and looked down at the grass. “I really don’t want to do the debate…”

Gus nudged her shoulder. “Hey, you’ve got this election in the bag—and as your campaign manager, I order you not to worry!”

“Gus, I don’t think your job description includes giving me orders,” Willow said with a small smile, “but thank you.”

They fell into a comfortable silence, and Luz’s mind wandered back to its current favorite topic—her upcoming field trip with Amity. 

Luz couldn’t help getting excited. After all, this whole memory map concept basically guaranteed that Luz would unlock some juicy backstory, and Luz always enjoyed backstory. 

Especially Amity’s!

People talked about her all the time, but she was so reserved that they didn’t have many interesting things to talk about—it was either her achievements (top student, led the soccer team to the state championship, and so on) or her family (powerful, wealthy, bla bla bla). 

Lame! All of it! Luz had no interest in big trophies or fancy-dancy last names. She wanted to learn about the actual person underneath that image of perfection. 

Because Amity had something more to her. Something… special. 

Yes, she’d been prickly at first. Actually, okay, she was still pretty dang prickly—but less than before! And despite their rocky start, Luz had a feeling, bones-deep, that Amity would turn out to be her GF. 

Yes, her GF—her Good Friend. And one could never have too many GFs! Speaking of…

“Hey guys, I have to head out in a sec. Amity’s coming to pick me up!”

Willow did a double take.

“Amity _Blight?_ ”

“Yeah, remember that art project I told you about earlier? With the memory map thing? She’s my partner!” said Luz.

“Oh, oka-”

“Actually, there she is now!” Luz waved with her whole arm at the girl in the distance, easily recognizable by her bright green hair. 

“Amity!!” she yelled, and with a quick goodbye to Gus and Willow, took off across the parking lot.

There was another person standing next to Amity, but they turned to leave before Luz could make out who. She soon arrived at Amity’s car, out of breath but full of energy.

“Hey! Are you ready to head out? I’m so excited! Where should we go first? Should we get food? Hmm, we wouldn’t want to ruin our appetites for dinner, but it’s almost dinner time anyways…”

Before Amity could respond, another voice cut in.

“Luz! You forgot your coat!” said Willow, jogging towards them.

“Also, your entire backpack,” added Gus with a laugh. “Plus all your textbooks. And this sketch of, uh.” He squinted down at the paper. “...Malingale the mysterious soothsayer.”

“Haha, whoops? You guys are lifesavers!” said Luz. She retrieved her belongings and tackled them both with hugs before remembering that Amity was there too, standing awkwardly to the side.

“Oh right! Amity, this is Gus,” she said.

Gus gave a small wave. “Hey.”

“And this is Willow!”

Amity and Willow were both quiet for a moment.

“We’ve met,” they said at the same time, in the same forced tone.

Luz looked anxiously back and forth between the two, trying (and failing) to come up with something to say.

Amity cleared her throat. “Um, it’s starting to get dark, so we’d better leave now,” she said to Luz.

Willow narrowed her eyes. “Oh, you’d know _all_ about leaving...” she muttered.

“What?” Luz felt like she was missing something here.

“What?” echoed Willow abruptly.

An awkward silence settled in, but thankfully Gus took it upon himself to break it. 

“Alrighty! Willow, let’s go back and keep planning your speech! Lots of work to do! Bye everyone!” 

He waved again as he ushered Willow back towards the tree they’d been sitting under. 

“...So that was weird,” said Luz, mostly to herself.

She shook it off and turned to her project partner.

“Anyways, uh, shall we?”

“I guess we shall,” replied Amity. She popped open the trunk of her silver BMW and Luz set her things snugly inside, a bright smile on her face—it felt like an adventure was about to unfold.

(k I lied there is art but I slapped it together like 10 minutes ago and it's very low-quality lolll)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry the chapter was so heavy on the exposition/internal monologuing hahaha boscha really carried this one on her back... also I must cite my sources and say that the GF line is based on a tweet I saw a while ago (and unfortunately couldn’t find again), so it's not original humor but it still makes me snort laugh. and creds to hyacinth for the 'amelia makes terrible jokes and boscha hates it' dynamic in her fic Sing Me to Sleep, which like GO READ IT NOW
> 
> song explanation: 1) this one precisely fits the ‘boring, sad music for indie girls to wallow in’ vibe, 2) the lyrics give me such Amity vibes--"how can you love yourself so damn much? it isn't natural." if you like the song I'd also recommend Different Now by Chastity Belt! (Julia Shapiro is their lead singer)
> 
> "art" by me, editing by the completely-not-ever-been-done-before Magpie, and thanks for reading!! see you all next week :) (actually on sunday this time I swear on hooty's honor)


	6. ...& Two Trips Down Memory Lane

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here’s part B!  
> song for chapter 5: Ordinary by UMI (it's not the Ordinary you’re probably thinking of lol)

The inside of Amity’s car was immaculately clean; Luz marveled at the smooth black leather seats, and the fancy touch screen console looked more modern than her phone. A far cry from Eda’s ancient pickup truck with its dented bumpers, crackly radio, and windows that she had to roll down with a crank.

A bundle of thick blue fabric was suddenly thrust onto Luz’s lap.

“Here,” said Amity.

“My hoodie!”

Luz pulled it over her head and wiggled her arms into the sleeves. It smelled like flowers, and she was pretty sure it hadn’t been nearly this soft before. 

_Wow, I should lend her my clothes more often!_

“Ready to go?” asked Amity.

Luz shaped her hands into a telescope and peered through it with one eye. 

“Aye aye! Off to sail the seven seas of Owl Ridge! Where to first, Cap’n?”

“...What.”

“You know, should we get food? Go to my map spot? Yours?”

“I have snacks in the car. Let’s start with yours,” said Amity.

Luz perked up at that, and looked around the back seat for a bag of chips or gummies.

“Oh my gosh, you do? I love snacks! What kind?”

Amity reached past Luz to open the glove compartment and handed her a granola bar.

“Nutrition Rectangle: none of that silly ‘flavor’ to get in the way of YOUR vitamins and minerals,” Luz read from the label, then burst out laughing.

“Is this-” she tried to compose herself. “Is this, like, what you eat?”

“I mean, yes?” replied Amity.

Luz unwrapped the bar and took a small bite. Despite having no taste, it still managed to taste terrible.

“On a totally unrelated note, is it okay if I bring the snacks on our future trips?”

“Pfft. Suit yourself.” Amity turned on the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot. “So where did you pick for your location?”

“Do you know where the movie theater is? A little off Main Street?”

Amity nodded.

“Okay, I was thinking we could park there—then we’ll have to walk the rest of the way,” said Luz.

They drove in silence through the town, except for the wrapper crinkling as Luz halfheartedly munched on her bar.

She’d grown more comfortable with quiet since she was younger, and it was clearly Amity’s preferred state, so as much as she wanted to talk with the other girl, Luz instead turned her head to look out the side window.

Even after two years of living in Owl Ridge, she could never get over all the beautiful scenery. It was chilly, but the skies were completely clear, and sunlight made the fall leaves glow a fiery orange. The rows of small shops seemed to smile back at her as they passed by.

After a while, Luz glanced over at the driver’s seat, where Amity looked to be deep in thought. The girl’s gaze was trained intently on the road ahead, yet it seemed distant and unfocused.

“Are you okay? Whatcha thinkin’ about?” asked Luz.

Amity gave a little jump.

“I’m fine,” she said with a small shake of her head. “I’m fine, just—oh, we’re here.”

Amity parked and stepped out of the car before Luz could inquire further. Well, she seemed fine enough. Probably. Hopefully.

Luz opened her door as well, enjoying the feel of the crisp breeze as it ruffled her hair. She went over to where Amity stood by the trunk and pulled out her bag of art supplies with a flourish.

“First landmark on our memory map! Ahh, this is so exciting! It’s back here, follow me!”

Luz motioned for Amity to follow and ran behind the movie theater to a small concrete courtyard, bordered by a chain link fence. Two huge dumpsters butted against the theater’s rear wall, and that was about all the decor in the area. Pine trees and underbrush were densely packed on the other side of the fence, obscuring any view beyond.

Amity looked around, frowning. “This is it?”

“No way! Come on, we have to go through here!”

Luz grabbed Amity’s hand and led her through a gap in the fencing, where the concrete turned into a dirt path.

Luz grinned back at Amity as they bounded along through the trees. Amity gave a skeptical look in return, undercut by the slight smile playing on her lips.

Patches of sunlight dappled her green hair and varsity jacket, and damn, Luz could understand why half the boys at school were lined up to ask her out.

They soon reached the end of the trail, where the pines thinned out to reveal a bright clearing, carpeted with soft grass and surrounded by greenery.

“ _This_ is it,” said Luz. She watched Amity take it in. The area wasn’t extraordinarily beautiful—just a few patches of wildflowers, a few logs to sit on, and a small fire pit dug in the center—but Luz hadn’t been here in months, and it felt like reuniting with an old friend.

She already knew what she wanted to draw. She pulled out her paper and pencils and plopped down cross-legged in the grass beside one of the logs. This particular one had a coating of soft emerald moss and clumps of baby ferns along its side. A fuzzy orange caterpillar inched along the top. 

Luz loved the idea that new growth could come from a chunk of old, dead tree. It made her hopeful.

Amity wandered over and took a seat on the log by Luz’s other side.

“Oh! We never talked about how to do the actual drawing part,” said Luz, “but I figured I could just get a quick sketch and take some photos of the colors now—then I can finish at home and we don’t have to sit here for a million hours.”

“That makes sense,” Amity replied. 

Luz nodded excitedly, already engrossed in her drawing. She plotted out a rough composition in light pencil, then began outlining, looking back and forth between her paper and the log every few seconds.

Amity cleared her throat.

“So… What’s your memory here?”

“Oh duh, sorry! Well…”

Luz marked out where the ferns were as she thought about how to start. She’d been looking forward to hearing Amity’s backstory so much that she’d forgotten about her own!

“When I was growing up, I didn’t exactly have many friends. Actually, I didn’t have any.”

Luz paused and took a breath. She hadn’t considered when choosing the location that this was an awfully personal first memory to share. But it wouldn’t be fair to expect Amity to trust Luz with her stories if Luz couldn’t share her own. And she did trust Amity.

“Not in middle school, or elementary, or even preschool!” Luz laughed, hoping it didn’t sound too forced. 

“Everyone said I was too weird to play with, to sit with at lunch, to work with for projects… So I kind of just did things on my own, you know?

Reading, writing, drawing, editing anime clips to epic theme music, making elaborate pyrotechnic displays to accompany book reports… Nobody ever hung out with me, really—except my mom.” 

Luz smiled as the memories came back. She’d definitely have to pick some of those places to add to the map. “Honestly, she’s still my best friend.”

Why did Amity look more shocked at that than anything else Luz had said?

“Anyways, it was… lonely, but I coped pretty well until I got to high school. Then, um, then the bullying got a lot worse. That’s actually why I moved out to Owl Ridge.”

Dead leaves crunched below Amity’s feet as she shifted to fully face Luz.

“You’re not from here?”

“Nope! I grew up in Seattle. But I got in trouble at school a lot, and after the aforementioned pyrotechnics, the principal decided to suspend me.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. We couldn’t afford private school and moving houses would’ve made my mom’s commute to the hospital even further. My mom and Eda have known each other since forever, and we used to come visit her at The Owl House pretty often, so I asked if I could move in with her and start going to Hexside. And ba-bam, now I’m here!”

Amity didn’t respond right away; Luz kept her gaze on the log, feeling a building sense of regret:

_Was that too much to share? Did I make her uncomfortable? What if-_

“Wait, what did that have to do with these logs?”

Luz peered up to see Amity giving her a quizzical look.

“Right, sorry! I transferred to Hexside in the middle of freshman year and met Willow and Gus on my first day. And it was crazy! They actually _talked_ to me, and then they asked if I wanted to go see the new _Good Witch Azura_ movie with them!”

Amity’s eyes lit up. 

“Wait, the fourth one? _Swamp of Serendipity_?”

“Exactly! So I said yes, of course! I mean, it was the first time anyone had ever invited me to do anything. I met them at the theater the next night, but I was a total idiot and forgot to bring money, and neither of them had extra, so we couldn’t even get in!”

Luz shook her head with a laugh, this one genuine.

“I thought I’d just ruined my one shot at finally having friends, but then Willow asked if I wanted to go somewhere else instead. I remember I felt like crying; I was so happy. We got Thai food from the place across the street and then they took me here, and we were just talking and laughing for hours.

Gus was telling us how dinosaurs probably had feathers, which made me rethink, like, everything I’d ever known, and Willow showed me how to tell the different types of ferns apart… They wanted to hear all about me, too.”

She could feel herself getting teary-eyed just talking about it.

“This was the log I sat on that night. I dunno, I guess it reminds me how grateful I am for them,” Luz finished. “I’m really, really grateful.”

Was Amity… was Amity a little bit teary-eyed too? 

No way—just Luz’s overactive imagination up to its usual antics. Besides, she’d turned her head away before Luz even got a good look.

“That’s a nice story,” said Amity. 

Luz smiled softly and returned to her sketch, finishing up the last few details. Then, satisfied, she packed her supplies back into the bag and took a couple photos of the log, then stood to leave.

Amity sat unmoving, staring at the firepit with that same far-away expression as before.

“Amity? Ready to go?”

“Uh, yeah! Yeah, let’s go,” she said.

They made their way back to the car—this time without Amity’s hand in Luz’s.

_Dang, well, we couldn’t anyways; my hands are all sweaty and gross right now._

Luz’s eyes widened.

_Wait, what am I thinking? Think something else!_

She studied the tiny rocks on the path like a dedicated geologist. Alas, Luz’s subjects soon betrayed her, and she tripped on one, causing her to spend the rest of the walk rubbing the dirt off her clothes.

But hey, it kept her occupied! Certainly an effective mental redirection technique, albeit an unorthodox one.

— 

Amity’s mind wandered as well. It went through Luz’s story over and over as they ambled along the winding dirt path.

She never would’ve guessed that Luz ever had trouble making friends. It seemed to Amity that she got along with almost everyone in class.

And if Amity (who was admittedly not the friendliest) had enough people to eat lunch or do projects with, how could Luz (who was approachable and positive and generous and smart and… whatever) not be surrounded by a whole crowd of friends?

Although, when Amity considered it further—she had a social group and a soccer team, but did she really have _friends?_ What even qualified as a friendship?

She thought back to her carpool earlier that afternoon. Were they her friends? 

Amity had an awful day because of that sign-scrambling miscreant, and they never asked if she was alright—or tried talking to her at all, in fact. Not that she could blame them. She didn’t know what she even would’ve said if they’d asked. Probably just brushed it off.

The last person she’d felt genuinely close with was probably Willow, which was what, eight years ago? Well, none of it mattered anyways. Amity made her own way; she didn’t rely on other people.

_“The only weaknesses you have are the ones you show.”_

She disagreed with many of her mother’s sayings, but not this one.

—

Back at the car, Amity dug through the backseat to find some wipes to get the rest of the dirt off. She knew they were somewhere, maybe in her duffel bag?

Luz piped up from the passenger seat.

“Hey Amity! Can we play some music while we drive to your memory place?”

“Sure. Oh, here they are,” she said, handing the package up to Luz.

“You’re the best!”

“Agreed.”

Luz pulled a face and stuck her tongue out in reply as she wiped the last of the dirt off her chin.

Amity climbed back into the driver’s seat and started the engine.

“Wait, how do you do the music?” asked Luz.

“Here, you can just plug my phone in the aux and press play; it should start the playlist automatically,” said Amity. She pulled the phone from her jacket pocket and Luz grabbed it eagerly from her hand.

Amity checked over her shoulder before turning into the road and accelerating until she reached precisely 30 mph. Speed limits were gospel to her, especially after Ed and Em totaled their old car in some stupid drag race during their junior year.

It was a miracle that Amity’s parents had sprung to replace it for them; she knew the same courtesy would not be extended to her if anything happened to the new car.

With that fact in mind, Amity always drove meticulously to ensure that there would be no scratches, no dents, no nothing. She followed every road rule, gave proper right of way, and-

_OH MY GOD._

The opening piano melody of Azura and Hecate’s soulful duet, “Which Witch Am I?” rang out from the speakers at full volume.

Amity slammed on the brakes right in the middle of Main Street and snatched her phone right out of Luz’s hands, jerking it from the aux cord with a burst of static feedback.

_How did that happen? I always, always ensure that it autoplays my regular playlist! Except… Boscha. Fucking Boscha put it on shuffle during carpool._

But whatever, barely a couple seconds had played. It was fine, right? There was no possibility that the song had been remotely recognizable with just that.

No possibility at all, and yet Luz was squealing like a tween at a One Direction concert. “Was that-” 

“No!” Amity cut her off.

“AHH, it totally was! I’d know that tune anywhere—the third song on the original soundtrack album of the _Good Witch Azura_ musical, ‘Perfect Witch, Perfect Pitch,’ AKA the most iconic duet of all time!” 

If they’d been in the _GWA_ anime, Luz would’ve had a dozen shiny highlights in her eyes. She looked positively awestruck.

“Not only that, it’s the rare outtake version that they later edited to be less explicitly romantic! Amity Blight, _you_ are a fellow Azura fan! And even better, a fellow Hecazura shipper!”

“I, uh…”

A car horn blared from behind them; Amity had apparently forgotten that they were stopped in the middle of the road. She released her foot from where it was jammed into the brake pedal and continued driving.

Meanwhile, Luz continued gushing about Azura.

“This is so cool! I had no idea! I have to show you all my special edition trading cards and figurines and oh my gosh we could start an Azura book club at school! Who’s your favorite character? Favorite book? Favorite movie?”

“Luz.”

“What is it? Let’s talk about everything! This is the best—I’ve never had a friend who likes Azura before!”

“Can you not tell anyone about this? Like, not a soul. Please?” asked Amity.

“Oh. Sure, of course—my lips are sealed!” 

The turn signal clicked on and off. The engine hummed. Amity tried to focus on the road to make up for her earlier blunder.

“...So, no Azura club then?” said Luz. It was the most tentative, the most unsure, that Amity had ever heard her.

Finally being able to talk about her favorite books with someone else did sound nice, but Amity knew she had to say no. If anyone found out, God knows what would happen to her carefully crafted reputation, and by extension, her future.

_But wait, when she was talking before—did she say..?_

_Did she say ‘friend?’_

Amity kept her walls polished and fortified at all times. She maintained a seamless, absolute defense. It served her well, and it would serve her well long into the future. But that word snagged on something inside her. A raw edge. 

Did Luz really consider her a friend?

“Well, as long as it’s a secret Azura book club,” Amity said slowly, “then... I’d like that.”

“Yes! Yes! If you weren’t driving right now I would give you the biggest hug of all time!” said Luz. “Okay, we have to come up with an amazing plan for our first meeting, but before that, I have an even more important question.”

“Which is?”

“What’s your favorite Azura and Hecate moment?”

Amity didn’t even have to ponder that one.

“Obviously in Book 3, when they have their duel on top of the castle, and Azura ends up hanging off the edge with one hand. Then Hecate pushes her off but regrets it instantly and jumps after her and saves them both with a wind spell!

And then when they reach the ground and just sit there holding each other for a while before they get up? Best scene.”

Amity slowed to a stop for a red light ahead.

“Oh, I love that part! It’s such a beautiful, tender moment… Wow. It, uh, definitely didn’t make me cry at all,” said Luz.

“There’s literally a tear running down your face right now.”

She sniffed. “No there’s not!” 

Without thinking, Amity reached over and poked Luz’s cheek.

“It’s _right_ there.”

“That’s not a tear.”

“What else would it be?”

“Hmm, I guess there’s just rain leaking through the roof of your car.”

“It’s not even raining!”

Luz cracked up at that, and Amity couldn’t help but laugh too.

The light turned green, and she drove forward.

Amity had picked a relatively basic location for this first trip—just her old elementary school—which turned out to be lucky, because daylight was running out more quickly than expected.

Furthermore, the entire process of walking over, sketching the school’s entryway, taking some photos, and getting back to the car took twice as long as it should have due to their concurrent, extensive discussion of which Azura villain was objectively the most evil.

They hadn’t even reached a solid conclusion by the time they got back on the road to drop Luz off at her house, but at some point they fell into a comfortable silence, just watching the pavement blur in front of them as the car cruised along.

“Hey Amity?”

“Hm?”

“Could you maybe play the song from earlier? We never got to listen to it and it’s been stuck in my head for like an hour,” said Luz.

“Sure. Here.” Amity handed her the phone again, feeling none of the trepidation about it that she had before with Boscha.

Luz plugged the cord in and the duet picked up right where it had left off. When the vocals were about to begin, she cranked up the volume and cleared her throat dramatically.

Amity really should’ve seen this coming. She tried to mentally prepare herself for the incipient serenade.

~~~

_Two paths open before my heart,_

_But how can I possibly choose?_

_Who is the woman I want to become?_

_I have everything, everything to lose!_

_This indecision can go on no longer—_

_An uncertain broomstick can’t take to the sky._

_I have to look deep inside and ask myself:_

_Which witch am I?_

~~~  
  


Luz sang both parts, making sweeping gestures to supplement the words. Amity had been okay to analyze book characters and romance plotlines, but she drew a firm line at singing in front of someone else.

Which was not to say she didn’t enjoy Luz’s performance—the other girl’s singing voice wasn’t half bad, and the theatrics made Amity feel a lot less self-conscious about her own off-key singalongs on the way to school.

The last notes rang out just as the car pulled onto Luz’s block. Amity slowed to a stop in front of the house. She’d never actually seen the front before; last time (post-milkshake incident) they’d entered through the back alley. 

It was deceptively nondescript, with little indication of the eccentric interior except for a large circular window on the second story with a stained glass design that made it look almost like a gigantic eye.

“So, I guess I’ll just head out now?” said Luz.

“Wait, I’ll come open the trunk for you. There’s this little button you have to press for it to work.”

Amity stepped out, a bit mystified with herself. The button was easy to find—she could’ve just told Luz where it was. Well, too late now.

She popped the trunk open, and Luz started to gather her stack of textbooks before abruptly putting them down and turning back to Amity with a huge grin.

“Oh hey, you’re not driving anymore!” she said.

“Seeing as I’m not even in the car, I think that’s a safe conclusion to-”

Luz didn’t wait to hear the rest before wrapping her in a tight hug. Amity’s breath hitched.

Maybe it wasn’t the biggest hug of all time like Luz had claimed earlier, but Amity didn’t exactly receive enough hugs to be an accurate judge. Either way, it was warm. And soft. And all she could smell was vanilla and pine, just like when she’d worn Luz’s hoodie before. Was it possible to be overwhelmed in a pleasant way?

“Thanks,” Luz said softly.

“For, um, for what?”

“I don’t really know. Just thanks.”

Amity had no idea how long a hug between friends was supposed to last, so she decided to wait for Luz to pull away first. Which was definitely not just a convenient cover for the fact that maybe she didn’t necessarily want it to end for a while.

But Luz gave her one last squeeze, then stepped back over to grab her things from the trunk.

Amity just stood there in a daze, and it seemed like barely a second passed before Luz was closing the trunk and starting to head inside.

“Bye Amity! See you Monday!” she said with a wave.

“Yeah, see you…”

Amity’s face felt hot despite the chill in the air. She raised a hand to her forehead.

_Damn. I must be getting a fever._

  
  
  


(hehe spot the caterpillar)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> song explanation: literally just the line “your ordinary’s enough for me” ugh it hits me RIGHT in the heart. I think luz and amity both struggle in different ways w not wanting to be ordinary, but despite that they help each other realize that they’re both extraordinary enough just as they are
> 
> amazing art and light editing (aka she added one suggestion to include "was" in a sentence) by the unafraid-to-reference-or-not-reference Magpie <3
> 
> this chapter was kind of my first foray into ~emotion~ so I'd love to hear what you thought :) thanks for reading and til next week!!


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